In vehicle tires, many criteria must be simultaneously satisfied, in particular wet grip characteristics, behavior when travelling around curves, fast running characteristics and durability should in each case be ideal. These characteristics in particular are especially good when a rubber mixture is used for the tread strips of vehicle tires which is commonly called a "silica mixture". This is a rubber mixture with a high proportion of silicic acids.
The disadvantage of such rubber mixtures with a high proportion of silicic acid lies in the fact that these are not electrically conductive or only poorly electrically conductive and the bodywork of a vehicle equipped with such tires can charge up electrically due to lack of an electrical connection to the road or carriageway. This can go so far that spark discharges occur when, for example, the driver of the motor vehicle wishes to open the filler cap at a filling station. This is naturally extremely dangerous and must be avoided at all cost. A poor or non-existent dissipation of electrical charge from the vehicle bodywork however also has further less dramatic disadvantages. Thus, for example, crackling noises occur in the car radio when driving over expansion joints or bridges or metallic sewer covers. These side effects of silica treads are less desirable.